Give your Orchids a more natural look. A quick view on how to mount your Orchids and what you need.
Orchids naturally grow on trees.
As most Orchids are epiphytes, you will find them growing on branches, trees and rocks in a natural setting. To recreate the most natural condition, orchids can be mounted on a piece of wood or cork to give them a better chance to position themselves properly.
A variety of mounts can be used. Artificial and porous mounts like a clay are available though tend to accumulate algae and salts. To give it a more natural look, we prefer to use wood or cork. When using wood, we have to consider the type of wood used- we don't want the wood to leach out resins or other substances that could effect our Orchids. Depending on how moist you keep your mount, the wood is also more likely to degrade compared to a cork mount.
The care for mounted orchids remains relatively the same, while the biggest difference will be when it comes to watering the orchid. Mounted orchids tend to dry quicker and will have to be soaked more often compared to the potted orchids. Since water absorption will only occur while being soaked, it is important to note that the drying process begins as soon as they are taken out of the water.
To mount your orchid, first clean up the orchid that you wish to use and remove all the medium and dead roots and soak it in water for 15 to 20 min, this will also make the roots more flexible to mount. You'll also need your mount, may it be wood or cork. We suggest finding something to secure the orchid to the mount, like plastic covered garden wire, twine or fishing line. Some sphagnum moss, a drill and cutters.
"Fishing line is more esthetically pleasing but needs taking care of in order to prevent accidental cutting of the roots."
First place your orchid on your mount medium in your desired location and most natural position. While placing the orchid, do keep in mind the orchids natural growth pattern. Use the drill to make two holes in your mount on either side of the orchid.
"Some Orchids like Phalaenopsis like to have a pendent growth, helping to avoid bacterial and fungal infections."
Depending on the type of Orchid and environment, you'll want to add a little bit of sphagnum moss to retain more moisture for the root system.
Place the Orchid in the desired position on the moss.
"Place Orchids like Cattleya with the older parts closer to the edge in order to give the younger areas room to grow."
Add some more moss on the roots and tighten your fastener with wire. Make sure its not too tight to prevent breaking the roots.
Tie or twist the ends together on the back to prevent it from coming loose.
"Use the back to hide your label for your plant."
If you choose to use a hanging mount, add an additional hole, loop through a piece of wire and create a hook, now you're ready to hang up your Orchid.
Don't forget to water more often than your potted plants and keep the humidity high and you will have a very happy Orchid.
Without the nutritious benefit of decomposing potting material, the roots have no food reserves and will require fertiliser more often.
Remounting
When your Orchid out-grows its mount we recommended attaching the entire plant with its current mount to the new mount, since trying to remove the old mount can severely damage the root system.
Opmerkingen